Thousands of crosses and markers for soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan blanket a California hillside.

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

A couple turned their front yard into an artistic masterpiece.

Exquisite irises bloom every spring in this hillside garden.

This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

Nuclear waste dump site now an environmental sanctuary.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

Half-sized replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa built to honor Galileo.

India’s only Brain Museum displays over 200 fascinating ways that your brain might kill you.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

Radioactivity still cause for concern at this urban explorer's paradise.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

A trail weaves through the verses of a poem illustrated by stone sculptures inspired by Native American pictographs.

A modern frieze of ancient Grecian mythological figures playing a national pastime.

The original place where water met land in the City by the Bay is outlined in brass.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.